Thursday, January 06, 2005

Education Reform Is Biggest Urban Legend

Education reform in the United States is a myth. Why do I say that? Because reform implies that something is being made better, and that clearly is not the case when it comes to education.

Report after report after report have shown that as a whole, the American educational system is failing the bulk of its students. And the more I read, the less I like.

Take standardized testing under No Child Left Behind, which implies that if your kid scores at the top of the heap in one state, he or she will also be at the top of the heap in another state. But wait, it turns out standardized tests aren’t standardized between states, writes Barbara Keeler in a Los Angeles Times opinion piece:

A third-grader in Stateline, Nev., has mastered this standard: “Read, write, order and compare numbers from 0-999.” Shortly before the test, her family moves to South Lake Tahoe, (California) and — yikes! — she is expected to read, write, order and compare whole numbers to 10,000. Failing the test may hold her back, and her teacher and school would be held accountable.

But don’t move to California for those higher standards just yet. A new Rand study shows that the school system is in such a sorry state that the higher standards don’t mean much, reports another Los Angeles Times story.

Despite huge efforts to improve California’s education system, per-pupil funding is still falling and academic achievement is not much above the poorest states in the nation. Here are some highlights of the study, according to the Times:

California’s fourth- and eighth-graders since 1990 have consistently scored lower on reading and math tests than most of their peers across the country, including those in Texas, New York and Illinois; during this time, the average reading and math scores ranked California above only Mississippi and Louisiana. (Of course, that begs the question as to whether California kids had to take a tougher test.) …

Teacher pay falls below the national average when salaries are adjusted for the high cost of living in California. (Average pay ranges from $30,000 to $56,000 depending on experience)…

Though California schools began reducing class sizes in kindergarten through third grade in 1997, the state still had the second highest overall student-teacher ratio in the nation in the 1999-2000 school year; California’s classrooms had nearly 21 students per teacher, compared to 16 per teacher nationally.

Seeing as how living in California is more expensive than just about any other state, requires breathing polluted air and generally means two hours of commute time EVERY DAY, you would at least think we’d have decent schools.

But no, a day after the Rand report, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed cutting education spending by $2.2 billion in his State of the State address, reports the Los Angeles Times. Essentially the governor wants to destroy Proposition 98, which guarantees education funding can’t be cut capriciously by lawmakers.

How Schwarzenegger expects to meet the requirements of No Child Left Behind with less money in the California system is a complete mystery. Just last year, Schwarzenegger vowed to protect schools from such cuts by winning billions of dollars in concessions from educators last year. He is now reneging on the deal.

It should be noted that even with the $2.2 billion cut, education spending is still expected to go up 7 percent this year. But as Schwarzenegger said in his address, 30 percent of California’s kids never graduate from high school.

But don’t feel too smug if you’re from another state. Things may not be going a whole lot better where you live, either. On any given day, stories abound:

The fun goes on and on, day after day while our children continue to get sub-par schooling. Unless you live in a wealthy part of town that has better schools, or you have found an alternative such as a magnet, your child is getting short-shrifted by the shortsighted. Despite what the educators say, despite what the political leaders say, despite what anyone says, there is no education reform.

Comments

Hi,

Ran across your DadTalk blog while reading some education news...it's certainly more intelligent than 99% of the blogs I've seen. OK, now that the compliments are out of the way, I'd like to ask if you could link to a parenting website that I've created, ParentsReview.org at www.parentsreview.org.

The site contains brief reviews of parenting books--specifically those books written for the parents of teens. The review have been written mostly by my graduate students. There are no ads on this site--it is a strictly noncommercial, nonprofit, public service site. If you're appreciative of that sort of thing, I'd appreciate the link.

Thank you for your thoughts. I know many in children's literacy advocacy who are in accord with you. What we are trying to understand is how to make education, our children, a priority. Somehow we have lost sight of this and continue to generate generations who are ignorant and don't have the capacity to have complex thinking. We are not creating leaders/innovators. Tests are not going to make our children stay in school and be smarter. Yes, our schools need reform but until the policymakers begin listening to parents, teachers and researchers than we will never break this cycle.

Interesting idea, that there is no education reform. I teach in BC, Canada and we are currently experiencing a jump on the standardized testing bandwagon. I agree that this does not count as reform, and I wonder if it is possible to reform our education society.
When I look at the great research being done in the areas of sleep, diet, and exercise I am continually amazed at the field of education's lack of implementating these ideas to create a positive learning environment. I understand that it would be difficult, and as long as we make education about nothing more than dollars and quotable statistics we won't really get anywhere.
In the end if you want to help a majority of kids learn, make sure they all have a decent diet, get enough sleep and exercise, were read to when they were young, don't spend unending hours in front of the tv or playstation, and have positive relations with several adult rolemodels.
Is it education that needs reforming or society?

M C: Thanks for the words of praise. I have a new postthat mentions both of your websites.

Nurit Siegel: Working at the Los Angeles Times, I think I've read about you once or twice in the Calendar section. Bookpals looks great. It's too bad the best education programs have to come from the private sector rather than the system we pay so much for through taxes.

Tod: I suspect both education and society need reforming. They really go hand in hand, don't they? The way I see it, massive education reform by federal dictate can't work unless a sophisticated implementation regime is included in the plan. That doesn't seem to be the case with any federal reform plan I've ever seen.

Two things will lead to education reform. One is up to the educators, and the other to government. First of all, educators must invent a new story that compelling describes the classroom, teachers, curriculum, and what it means to be educated in a world where the very nature of information has changed. And then we need to tell that story loud and clear.

Then government must invest, invest, invest. In no way are we investing more in our future than when we are building up an education system with new learning environments, new tools, new curriculum, and a charge to our teachers to create and craft new innovative and motivating learning experiences for our students, that are relevant to their future, not ours.

We must stop forcing teachers to work harder, and start helping teachers to work smarter.

David, one thing that has repeatedly surprised me by leaders of both parties is their seeming reluctance to view education as an investment. We don't hesitate to invest in roads, powerlines, wars and military bases, but as a society we simply don't find our children to be that important.

That leads me to believe that most of our leaders have decided that self-enrichment is more important than enriching our nation. It's hard to fathom.

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